The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has serious concerns Continue reading
Tag Archives: George Lyon
New Argyll free sheet
The Argyll & Bute Gazette has been dropping through letterboxes Continue reading
Support for new entrants to farming in Bute Estate’s lettings
Bute Estate has just (Monday 19th October) announced a series of Continue reading
SNP carries the fight to Bute
As the prequel to the General Election campaign gathers pace, it is always interesting Continue reading
For Argyll referenced by Environment Minister in closing argument of Holyrood Forestry debate
The Scottish Government’s Environment Minister, Michael Russell, referenced For Argyll in his recent closing of the Holyrood debate on the proposed forest leasing scheme. The debate, with the Minister’s leading and closing statements for the Government – including the reference to For Argyll with the Minister’s quotation from one of our articles on this matter Continue reading
Comment from Environment Minister, Michael Russell MSP, on political scaremongering on forest leasing scheme
For Argyll has reported several times on uninformed and irresponsible political scaremongering on the Scottish Government’s forest leasing proposals. The latest example of this – and the subject of a very recent report – was unfortunately perpetrated by former Argyll & Bute MSP, George Lyon at the opening of his campaign to go to Brussels as an MEP.
Michael Russell has now himself sent For Argyll a comment on this matter – and please note his invitation to put forward any suggestions and ideas which you think would improve the proposed scheme.
Mr Russell says:
‘The Liberal Democrat campaign of disinformation about the forestry proposals is now a matter of serious concern. People have a right to expect their elected representatives and their potential candidates to tell the truth but alas on this occasion the Liberal Democrats have preferred to peddle downright lies.
‘I suspect it will rebound upon them but for any party – or any individual – to seek a few extra votes by means of deliberate deceit is a disgrace to democracy. And when the issue goes to the heart of the greatest challenge facing humanity – that of climate change – then most of us will only have contempt for such people.
‘I remain open to all views on the forestry proposals, including ideas that can improve upon them or present viable alternatives. All I ask is that such a debate is conducted using fact, not fiction. On that criteria the Liberal Democrats have excluded themselves from the discussion’.
Today’s Scotsman carried a factual piece underlining just how falsely based is the convenient alarmism of the moment.
It reminds us that Scotland has 1.1 million acres of state-owned forest (460,000 hectares), making the ninety year-old Forestry Commission Scotland biggest landowner. It needs an annual subsidy of £28million, some of which is used for non-commercial activities, leaving the forest estates still losing millions of pounds each year.
The Scotsman goes on to say that Jim Hume, the Lib Dem’s Environment Spokesman, has implied that:
- local businesses will lose contracts
- outdoor activities the Forestry Commission supports will be stopped
- hundreds of jobs will be at risk
- Forestry Commission Scotland’s income will be ‘severely diminished’
- all if state forests – 25% of them – are leased to the private sector.
The Scotsman dismisses such alarmism as ‘grossly misplaced’. It points out that virtually all facilities made available to the public in the forests could be safeguarded in the terms of the lease – and Michael Russell has guaranteed that they will be.
In fact such facilities cannot be other than safeguarded since they are all certified under the UK’s Woodland Assurance Scheme. This deals with issues like the provision of local employment, public access, biodiversity and health and safety.
As the Scotsman says and as For Argyll has ponted out on many occasions, it is only the taxpayer-funded annual subsidy which will be ‘severely diminished’.
Lazy scaremongering from George Lyon – must do better
For Argyll reports very rarely mention the party affiliation of any Scottish politician. This is a contribution to focusing on what really matters – the issues, the evidence, the decisions, the implementation and the results.
There is nothing so tired, so dispiriting and so empty-headed as politicians focused only on scoring party political points rather than doing their best for Scotland and for those who elected them to do just that.
There is nothing so dishonourable as politicians who don’t do their homework while comfortably trotting out wildly inaccurate statements for political benefit. And there is nothing so stupid as politicians who do this when the facts are in the public domain. This sort of thing is a fraud on constituents, on potential consituents and on voters.
One issue that has attracted a great deal of this behaviour is the Scottish Government’s proposal to lease 25% of Scotland’s commercial forests in order to raise money for measures to fight climate change.
Environment Minister, Michael Russell, has committed himself publicly, in writing and very specifically to copper-fastened reassurances that there will be no resulting compulsory redundancies for those working in our forests. He has also given these detailed reassurances directly to the key organisations concerned – like the Trade Unions, who have not since disputed or questioned them.
And he has said clearly that will be no diminution of the role, responsibilities and advisory capacity of Forestry Commission Scotland.
Yet far too many politicians simply take the cheap scaremongering route and do what George Lyon has now also done. The former Argyll and Bute MSP, now a prospective candidate for the ultimate gravy train of a seat in the European Parliament, has said, in starting his campaign: ‘Privatisation would be disastrous for Argyll’s forests and forest workers’.
In every respect this does not trouble itself with the documented facts and is a dilution of the currency of trust on which democracy depends. And it is irresponsible to frighten and destabilise people about the security of their jobs when no threat to them exists.
We pay our politicians to represent us. We expect them to work to be properly informed. We require them to tell us the truth. We do not expect them to see and treat us as simpletons and as pawns in their games – to be manipulated in their interests. We deserve better and we will get it if we start to vote on merit and on evidence than by tribal tradition.
New Scottish Lib Dem Leader, Tavish Scott, enters the Vestas debate
Tavish Scott, the Shetland MSP recently elected Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has quickly engaged with Vestas’s proposed closure of their wind turbine manufacturing plant at Campbeltown. He is asking Scottish Ministers to fly to Denmark in a last-ditch effort to try to save the ninety plus jobs at stake. It is known that the Enterprise Minister, Jim Mather, Argyll’s MSP, has already had high level discussion with senior management at Vestas – in Glasgow – after the company at first insisted that all talks should take place in Denmark.
At the 2007 election, Argyll changed its political colours for the first time in around forty years. The SNP’s Jim Mather, who had been a ‘list’ MSP for Argyll, took the Holyrood seat from previous incumbent, Bute farmer, George Lyon, a Liberal Democrat. With a significant business background, Mather was immediately appointed Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, a brief close to Argyll’s needs and resources. The Lib Dems have long held the Westminster seat for Argyll and Bute. Baroness Ray Michie, who died earlier this year, was succeeded on her retirement as MP by fellow liberal Alan Reid, the current member. The party will be keen to retain the Westminster seat and to try to regain the Holyrood one from the SNP. The SNP, for its part, will be working to keep the Hoyrood gain and to take the Westminster seat.
All good news for Campbeltown folk who need as many as possible working – and why not competitively? – in their interests, against the multinational Vestas corporation.